It's All About Aesthetics - John Calvin on Beauty

My friend Terry Pruitt and I keep getting into these discussions about truth and beauty and Terry keeps reminding me that "it's all about aesthetics" - that's become one of his favorite sayings.  These discussions are usually about the place of and relationship between truth and beauty.  Our discussions when these things come up might be on some theological topic, worship practices, church architecture and decoration, or Christian living. 

So, this post is for Terry - here's a great quote from Calvin talking about how God presents His attributes to us in a beautiful and alluring picture.

It must be acknowledged, therefore, that in each of the works of God, and more especially in the whole of them taken together, the divine perfections are delineated as in a picture, and the whole human race thereby invited and allured to acquire the knowledge of God, and, in consequence of this knowledge, true and complete felicity. Moreover, while his perfections are thus most vividly displayed, the only means of ascertaining their practical operation and tendency is to descend into ourselves, and consider how it is that the Lord there manifests his wisdom, power, and energy,—how he there displays his justice, goodness, and mercy. For although David (Psalm 92:6) justly complains of the extreme infatuation of the ungodly in not pondering the deep counsels of God, as exhibited in the government of the human race, what he elsewhere says (Psalm 40) is most true, that the wonders of the divine wisdom in this respect are more in number than the hairs of our head.

Calvin, J., & Beveridge, H. 1997. Institutes of the Christian religion. Translation of: Institutio Christianae religionis.; Reprint, with new introd. Originally published: Edinburgh : Calvin Translation Society, 1845-1846. Logos Research Systems, Inc.: Oak Harbor, WA

So, the next step would be to meditate and brainstorm on what implications this has for our life and worship.  But, I'll leave that to you.